1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of gutters on buildings of all type to provide proper drainage from the roofs of said building, and more particularly to a gutter draining and flusing system for installation in such gutters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art shows that prior patents in this area either deal with articles for screning gutters to prevent the need to flush out said gutters, or deal with flushing systems for flushing out unscreened gutters to remove the leaves and gravel which normally accumulate in the gutter. Before proceeding to prepare and file the present patent application, I caused a search to be made through the files of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to locate patents which might have a bearing on the patentability of my idea. The search located the following references:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee Year ______________________________________ 870,165 J. D. Hagler, et al Nov. 5, 1907 2,515,027 A. Walton July 11, 1950 2,717,501 J. M. Bearden Sept. 13, 1955 2,887,073 W. G. Thompson May 19, 1959 3,855,132 W. P. Dugan Dec. 17, 1974 4,183,368 G. V. Husted Jan. 15, 1980 4,607,465 G. K. Hopkins Aug. 26, 1986 ______________________________________
A review of the above patents will show that Pat. Nos. 870,165; 2,515,027; 2,717,561; 3,855,132 and 4,607,465 are of the type dealing with the aforementioned devices for screening gutters to prevent the need for flushing, while Pat. Nos. 2,887,073 and 4,183,368 deal with the latter type of device, i.e. a gutter flushing system shown for use on unscreened gutters. None of the patents listed above, however, solve the problem of how to keep debris out of gutters to keep them working efficiently, while at the same time providing for the occasional flushing which is always needed no matter how well a gutter may be screened. Any of the screening devices, while they may keep leaves out of the gutter to one degree or another, still permit the passage of the fine gravel found on asphalt shingles and the like into the bottom of the gutter, which still requires that the gutter be flushed periodically, which then requires the cumbersome removal of the screening device.
On the other hand, the gutter flushing systems shown will be rendered ineffective because of the failure to provide some type of screening. It is believed such systems will not remove the heavy accumulation of leaves from the gutter which are normally found in the fall, thus requiring han removal of the leaves from the gutter before activating the flushing system. Nobody, until the present time, has thought to combine the gutter screen with the flushing system to solve these long-standing problems in the prior art. I, by careful analysis of the problems present in the gutter art, have provided a combination gutter screening and flushing system which is inexpensive to manufacture, and easily installed.